Abstract
Various business education programs use games to train students in the practices they will be expected to apply in the real world. Historically, educators employed simulation games with high fidelity to create low threat, repeatable opportunities to learn. The purpose of this chapter is to explore some of the theoretical business concepts and models underpinning the use of educational games in business disciplines and explore how those are embedded in three business simulations as illuminative practice examples. These examples can help the reader better understand how the learning affordances of simulation games are used to support educational goals using their core rule sets, conflicts, and win/loss scenarios to provide learners with performance feedback in low-threat environments.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, P. H., & Lawton, L. (2009). Business simulations and cognitive learning. Simulation & Gaming, 40(2), 193–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878108321624
Barney, J., & Hesterly, W. (2012). Strategic management and competitive advantage: Concepts and cases (4th ed.). Pearson.
Bendle, N., & Vandenbosch, M. (2014). Competitor orientation and the evolution of business markets. Marketing Science, 33(6), 781–795. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2014.0863
Buil, I., Catalán, S., & Martínez, E. (2020). Engagement in business simulation games: A self-system model of motivational development. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(1), 297–311. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12762
Carenys, J., & Moya, S. (2016). Digital game-based learning in accounting and business education. Accounting Education, 25(6), 1–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2016.1241951
Chopra, S., & Meindl, P. (2010). Supply chain management: Strategy, planning, and operation. Pearson Education.
Coase, R. (1937). The nature of the firm. In G. J. Stigler & K. E. Boulding (Eds.), Readings in price theory (pp. 331–351). Irwin.
Faria, A. J., Hutchinson, D., Wellington, W. J., & Gold, S. (2009). Developments in business gaming: A review of the past 40 years. Simulation and Gaming, 40(4), 464–487. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878108327585
Greeno, J. G. (1994). Gibson’s affordances. Psychological Review, 101(2), 336–342.
Harrigan, P., & Hulbert, B. (2011). How can marketing academics serve marketing practice? The new marketing DNA as a model for marketing education. Journal of Marketing Education, 33(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/0273475311420234
Ho, T. H., Lim, N., & Camerer, C. F. (2006). Modeling the psychology of consumer and firm behavior with behavioral economics. Journal of Marketing Research. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.3.307
Holmström, B., & Roberts, J. (1998). The boundaries of the firm revisited. American Economic Association, 12(4), 73–94.
Hooley, G., Piercy, N. F., & Nicoulaud, B. (2004). Marketing strategy and competitive positioning. Education. Retrieved from http://www.pearsoned.co.in/web/books/9788131727997_Marketing-Strategy-and-Competitive-Positioning_Brigitte-Nicoulaud.aspx
Horn, R. (1977). The guide to simulations/games for education and training. Didactic Systems.
Jaye, P., Thomas, L., & Reedy, G. (2015). “The diamond”: A structure for simulation debrief. Clinical Teacher, 12(3), 171–175. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.12300
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., & Hall, C. (2016). Horizon report – 2016 Higher Education edition. NMC Horizon Report. ISBN 978-0-9968527-5-3
Levant, Y., Coulmont, M., & Sandu, R. (2016). Business simulation as an active learning activity for developing soft skills. Accounting Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09639284.2016.1191272
Levitt, T. (1965). EXPLOIT the product life cycle. Harvard Business Review, 43(6), 81–94. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.383242
Nielsen, J. A., Mathiassen, L., & Hansen, A. M. (2018). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning: A critical application of the 4I model. British Journal of Management, 29(4), 835–850. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12324
Oliver, C. (1997). Sustainable competitive advantage: Combining institutional and resource-based views. Strategic Management Journal, 18(9), 697–713.
Pitkethly, R. (2006). Analysing the environment. In D. Faulkner & A. Campbell (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Strategy (1st ed., pp. 232–266). Oxford University Press.
Ravitch, S., & Mittenfelner Carl, N. (2016). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological (1st ed.). Sage Publications Inc..
Reiners, T., & Wood, L. C. (2015). Gamification in education and business. In Gamification in Education and Business. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10208-5.
Robertson, J. (2011). The educational affordances of blogs for self-directed learning. Computers & Education, 57(2), 1628–1644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.03.003
Salen, K., & Zimmerman, E. (2004). Rules of play: Game design fundamentals. MIT Press.
Sauser, B., & Boardman, J. (2015). Systemigram modeling for contextualizing complexity in system of systems. In Modeling and simulation support for system of systems engineering applications. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118501757.ch11
Schumpeter, J. (1927). The explanation of the business cycle. Economica, 21, 286–311.
Schumpeter, J. (1942). Creative destruction. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, 82–85.
Smith, W. K. (2014). Dynamic decision making: A model of senior leaders managing strategic paradoxes. Academy of Management Journal, 57(6), 1592–1623. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.0932
Stephen, A. T. (2016). The role of digital and social media marketing in consumer behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, 17–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.10.016
Suddaby, R., & Foster, W. M. (2017). History and organizational change. Journal of Management, 43(1), 19–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316675031
Teece, D. D., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509–533. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z
Thavikulwat, P. (2004). The architecture of computerized business gaming simulations. Simulation and Gaming, 35(2), 242–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878104263545
Warren, S. J., & Jones, G. (2017). In D. Ifenthaler, S. Warren, & D. Esreyel (Eds.), Learning games: The science and art of development. Springer.
Wernerfelt, B. (1984). A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management, 5(2), 171–180.
Wolfe, J. (1993). A history of business games in English-speaking and post-socialist countries: The origination and diffusion of a management education and development technology. Simulation and Gaming, 24, 446–463.
Yang, H., Lin, Z. J., & Lin, Y. L. (2010). A multilevel framework of firm boundaries: Firm characteristics, dyadic differences, and network attributes. Strategic Management Journal, 31, 237–261. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj
Zhang, Y., & Wildemuth, B. M. (2009). Qualitative analysis of content. Applications of Social Research Methods to Questions in Information and Library Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20661
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Warren, S.J., Roy, M., Robinson, H.A. (2021). Business Simulation Games: Three Cases from Supply Chain Management, Marketing, and Business Strategy. In: Aprea, C., Ifenthaler, D. (eds) Game-based Learning Across the Disciplines. Advances in Game-Based Learning. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75142-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75142-5_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-75141-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-75142-5
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)